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E46 Xi Forum The E46 XI was produced from 01-05 in sedan and touring body styles. Powered by either a 2.5L inline 6 in the 325xi or a 3.0L inline 6 330xi. Discuss all thing about BMW AWD E46 'Xi' here.

I purchased my XI six years ago. However, it took another couple years reading to identify differences between these and non-XI's. Especially for new XI owners landing here, an overview of what's - what, may be useful?

Chime in with comments, corrections and additions. Try to keep the points general to what is different and not items based from your personal modifications.
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1) CV boots. The boots can tear or clamps may loosen causing loss of lube leading to CV failure. The boots should be inspected every oil change.

2) Lowering. They can be lowered and many claim success. The amount to drop and methods vary. XI specific aftermarket kits are offered. This is subjective, but some report axle/CV or boot wear issues after lowering. The drive angle goes from a downward tilt to aiming horizontal or upward. Some suggest changing this drive angle was never factory engineered and may create premature failure.

3) CAB. The front control arms and bushings including other front end components are different from rear-wheel drive cars. The XI CAB's are not as prone to wear as quickly as our non-XI friends. The aftermarket offers stiffer flavors with XI part numbers.

4) Exhaust. You have a butterfly valve in one of the muffler tips. Remove and plug the vacuum line at the muffler vac. actuator to open up the flapper and enjoy a throatier exhaust tone. There are very few cat-back systems to be found due to XI specific tail-pipe routing but you can swap the muffler. Most non-M, E46 aftermarket mufflers should work.

5) Steptronic. The XI auto-trans is made by GM. The proper fluid specification is critical. Reverse failure often posted is not common to these. BMW used two transmission suppliers (ZF) being more common to rear wheel drive cars.

6) Subframe. Reported XI percentage of failure (tearing metal per BMW recall) is low. I spoke with BMWNA who indicated 2001 and later XI's really do not experiance this issue.

7) Oil. These have larger capacity oil pans 7.5 - 8 quarts.

8) Wheels and Tires. Non-XI sizing will work for ranging in on your rim and tire choice. The fender gap is the only difference, sizes and offset are the same. Four wheel drive may have some considerations. Some do not recommend wider wheels on the rear than front. This "staggered" setup where sizing exceeds the recommended circumference may introduce stress under turning where drive components may be affected. Something also occurring with tire shops: if you have worn tires and damage one, they have to replace all four tires. Installing one new tire with the remaining three being worn may damage drive components or make ABS unsafe from the slight diameter difference.

9) XI floor mats and carpet fitment is different. The factory carpet mat on the drivers side rides up on the trans tunnel. OEM rubber mats for XI's will lay down in the footwell not riding up, leaving an exposed carpet retainer hole.

10) Springs and suspension. The XI requires specific parts where it is recommended to research all part numbers before ordering. Coil-over systems are also XI part specific.

11) Strut tower reinforcement rings are factory installed on the XI. These plates are located under the strut hat tower and are identified on the towers by two black rivets holding the plates secure below. Note: these also are installed with the rough-road package option.
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7.
Are you sure? I thought the oil pan was only different for certain years of the XI

Changes from the standard drive version are:
• A specially designed body pan with a widened transmission tunnel and modifications on
the driver's side to accept the transfer case.
• Modified oil pan and engine mounts to provide access for the front axles.
• A completely new front engine carrier.
• Re-reinforcements for the front strut bearings.
• A compact new transfer case (NV 124).
• New transmission cross-member.
• Bosch DSC III 5.7

3) CAB. The front control arms and bushings including other front end components are different from rear-wheel drive cars. The XI CAB's are not as prone to wear as quickly as our non-XI friends. The aftermarket offers stiffer flavors with XI part numbers.

I swear somewhere I read that the FCABS on XIs are the same as E36 RWDs

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koffinb

But think about it..just because there is a different oil pan doesnt mean the engine holds more oil/ The oil pan is just where the oil sits when the engine is not running.

It does hold more oil. I've topped mine off with 8 quarts before. The oil pan on XIs is totally different the front axels run through it.

Recently, Kubica pointed out the XI came with them from the factory. The discussion was, if you lower your car with stiff struts or coil-overs, the additional force may mushroom the strut towers. I pointed out the aftermarket has reinforcement rings to prevent this. Others replied they already have the rings or they thought there was extra sheetmetal added for this.

So, let's find out what the deal is. I looked at my car and agree, I can't see additional support rings. The metal looks pretty beefy but have no clue what the I's may have. Mine is an '03.

^^ I'm going to post another thread to get this question resolved. I've seen the rings offered by Turner and ECS and of course strut tie- bars binding the towers together which have mounting rings that would beef them up. Those products indicate they fit all E46 cars.

I've also seen pics where the affect of mushrooming has the strut bolts pointing in different angled directions. One thread discussed how to hammer the metal back down in order to fit the ring over the bolts. Yikes!